Top 10 things...

When we travel... wait a minute, let me clarify that. When we are actually driving on the road and not ministering to tow truck drivers and other heavy equipment operators, we like to listen to messages by many varied preachers and teachers. We have our favorite "traveling pastors", many of which we have never met. I have been listening to a series by Beth Moore called "Wise Up", which is a study of Proverbs on 12 different different topics. One topic was "How wisdom looks on a wife". There was one part where she did a top 10 list of why she loves her husband, and their marriage, and I absolutely loved it. I have wanted to make my own top ten list, and have had a more than a few opportunities to write and re-write it! I will likely have a few similar to her as there are truly some universal things that make a good marriage, but for the most part this list will be unique to us.


The top 10 things I love about my marriage and my husband.


10. He will gladly watch a chic-flick with me. And likely enjoy it as much as I will.

9. He is finally getting a receding hair line. I know it sounds crazy, but I always hoped he would go bald.

8. He is one of the most empathetic people I know.

7. He is my biggest fan.

6. His feet never smell. Ever. Now that is saying something.

5. I love that he regularly engages each of our children in conversation. Not just surface stuff either. Real, deep, and meaningful.

4. I love that he is neater than I am.

3. I love knowing that if we had to do it all over again, we would both still choose each other.

2. I love that he and I share love for our five children like no one else will.

1. I love Dan Jalowiec.

Say Good-Bye to the Hornet...

We had traveled over 1500 miles at speeds of 60-70 mph. We were only 50 miles from our destination in Kaplan, Louisiana, stopping at a gas station to fill up one last time for several days. While we drove we had been reading out loud the book "Radical" by David Platt. Amazing read. I was just finishing up a text to our missions pastor updating our journey so far, feeling like we were close enough to do so (What could possibly change so much in an hour?!) also knowing that our cell reception in Kaplan would be minimal at best. This is what the update read:

We hitched the camper up in Buffalo Monday in the frigid cold and have been driving ever since- Praise the Lord for that! Except for some blizzard conditions late last night in Memphis, our travels have been uneventful which is unusual for us! 

We are nearly to the Hayes and are looking forward to the reunion with them. Sunday the 30th begins our first of nearly a dozen meetings and conferences that will bring us through several states and as many weeks of travel. We are thankful for the rest we had over the holidays but are excited to be on the road again. 

We appreciate your continued prayers that we see Jesus every step we take and that our lives reflect him in all we do. As we begin this first week of travel the Lord is making clear he wants us who take HIS name to surrender to his leading and live our lives on purpose for his purpose.

Real, radical, and resting solely in him. To God be all glory! 

Your missionaries to Zambia, 

Dan Jalowiec &  family

~SEND~


The next thing I hear is "Dad!" and I feel a jolt on the van. I look back to see our camper 10 feet behind us and about 6 feet to the left of the van. 

We get out of the van to this initial site. Our bumper hitch was broken and bent, completely ripped off of our van.

As close as possible, this is a recounting of the conversation between me and the Lord throughout the "incident" involving The Hornet.

(we walk out to see the camper...)

Me: "Oh Dear God! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?"
God:  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts," 

(we quickly realize this is no small fender-bender)
Me: "Lord, this is the only home we have right now...!
God: "neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD" Isaiah 55:8

(I don't even know how to answer my children's constant stream of questions)
Me: "God how will this effect my kids?!" 
God: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, ..."

Me: "Why in the world did this happen?"  
God: "as though some strange thing happened unto you:" I Peter 4:12

Me: "Oh Lord I cannot handle this right now. We have been traveling for three days and I am exhausted." 

God: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

Me: "God we are so far from home!"
God: "And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; ..."

Me: "And this is our only home until April!"
God: "he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: ..." 

Me: "I have no idea what to do Lord!"
God: "fear not, neither be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

Me: "Will this be able to be fixed?!"
God: "For I have been a shelter for you, ..." 

Me: "Lord what are people going to think?!"
God: "and a strong tower from the enemy." Psalm 61:3

Me: "I cannot see how we are going to get through this one." 
God: "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: ..."

Me: "Is this really your best plan for us?"
God: "...set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed;"  II Chronicles 20:17

God: "Janice... do you trust me in this?"

Me: "Lord, to whom shall I go? thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68

There is so much more to still learn regarding this situation, and for now we are so thankful to be with amazing friends that have gone through so much more than we have. We are ministering to each other in ways that only God could orchestrate. We trailered our other camper over 12,000 miles with not one incident... and thankfully so because it was not insured. We have yet to make the first payment on this camper, and the insurance adjuster has totaled it due to the damage done... at 5 miles per hour. The Lord surely does work in mysterious ways. I am learning to not even try to figure them out. Just walk in the bitty bit of light I have in front of me... and to BE STILL and KNOW THAT HE IS GOD! 

Just made some small changes...

Or huge ones!

As it turns out the boredom of waiting a week for our transmission to be replaced... ("What?" you say?? don't know about the transmission? Oh yeah... call it a coping mechanism/skill ... I tend to block traumatic experiences!) ... OK... here is the scoop on the tranny.

We drove our van three times with our new camper all hitched up and pretty... and the fourth time the transmission decided it had had enough of that big lug of a camper dragging it down. So it melted. Not all of it, only reverse and 2nd gear which my carpenter-neighbor and friendly-mechanic tell me go together.  Turns out that those are pretty important gears. Who knew?!  Thankfully we still had a few "forward" gears, and we were actually able to drive it back to Rochester- sans Hornet hooked on- for a whole new super-duper transmission. The new one has something about temp gauges and a torque-transporter-inverter-gear-shaft-drive-mechanism gizmo. Whatever- it isn't even greek to me because I never learned any of those words in class. It should be very pretty strong though.

In an effort to always try to learn something from every experience, I will share the few things I learned through this one.

1. Buffalo is VeRy CoLd in the winter, particularly in a camper in an open field in Mid January. 
2. We like service stations next to malls. A new criteria for me when I choose one. 
3. I need to be extra careful the next time we abandon our fully supplied camper. 
4. We left two cases of pop under the bench seat of the table. 
5. Pop has a tendency to ExPloDe when it is frozen. 
6. It is VeRy CoLd in Buffalo. 
7. I need to learn what effectively removes pop from carpet. 

OK. Now on to the real topic of the post... Changes! 

The picture above was taken tonight at 10:25 pm. See the clock? :) 

Notice the empty cupboards behind my son, and the boxes on the table, and the trash all over the floor? Only one thing could account for all of that mess. We are MoVinG OUT! 

I think we are certifiable now. For what I am not quite certain, but this must clearly fall under some clinical diagnosis of some kind somewhere. 

We are putting the greater portion of the contents of our home in a storage unit until April when we will (allegedly) return to Rochester. We will then move into an in-law apartment  (Thanks Mommy!) unless another house becomes available within our price range. Our preferable range is between free and $0.00... know anywhere like that?! Please call if you do!  

Toters, boxes, tape, markers, paper, cute moving men... we got it all! (It is an all "in-house" job so I can say that!) I am hoping to be done with my portion of the move by friday so I will be able to attend our church's ladies' retreat. If everything (but the garage) is set... I can go. I was up at 5 today, and I am just sitting down now for the first time.  One more day like this and I think Friday will be a done deal! I may be unconscious for the entire retreat, but at least I will be there! :) If you happen to be bored and live near, stop by and I will treat you to a highly caffeinated beverage and we can crank out some boxes together! If you can't for whatever reason, I would appreciate any prayers for sanity strength! 

Last View of the NY Snow...

As I begin this cold friday in January... I look out my kitchen window to this sight. 

 The camper is mostly packed and ready for departure tomorrow. All except my (and Dan's) clothes. And some food. And camping chairs and hoses and... OK... it is half way packed! Either way, we have never had to get a camper ready with nearly a foot of snow on the ground! It is freezing as we trudge in and out for load after load, and who can think properly to prepare for up to a 70 degree shift in temperature over the next three days, but still be ready for the potentially cooler southern temps? I know we will bring too much of some unneeded things, and each have at least one item that we will be So Sorry we didn't bring. All in all, I think we will make do just fine. I mean really, we have in that one camper more than some people own altogether!

Dan and Levi took advantage of a beautiful, cold, moonlit winter night last night. At midnight, no less. They got out the x-country skiis and took off into the great outdoors. They saw no less than 30 deer, which of course were nowhere to be found a few weeks ago during hunting season. Now no one is happy as they are starving while foraging for the last remnants of food to be found in this freezing winter wonderland when they could have at least made us happy and been in our freezer making us fat and happy. Oh well. 

 Hello Levi! You sure do look cold!

These are some things we won't have many opportunities to do in Zambia, ya think??! Get 'em while you can!

God's Will ... will be done!

Exodus 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

This is right after the children of Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it as the god that took them out of Egypt. Are you kidding me people? You saw the Lord plunder the Egyptians with 10 plagues... some on all of you, some specific only to the Egyptians, and then one where if you OBEYED the LORD you were completely spared. Each and every plague specifically targeting one of the gods that Egypt worshipped, but now.... because Moses was gone for a few days... you think he and God has abandoned you. Really??

I know the dripping sarcasm is getting your keyboard wet.    Sorry. 


Anyhow it struck me. The Lord had a plan and It Will Be Accomplished. He promised to make a great nation of Israel. He had started this whole world with the voice of his power, he can surely make a great nation of Moses... with or without the people that he was leading out of Israel. God was ready to consume them all and start new.

My application?? He had a plan then... he HAS a plan still!  God will reach this world. With or without me. He has done great and mighty things around me... and for me! I have seen him perform miracles in my life! I have his word that is true and never wavering, and can learn of THE God that created this world and holds all things together. I am HIS CHILD and can with confidence expect him to honor the promises in his word... because HE SAID I CAN! Psalms 62:1-8!!

Do I want in or not? I must obey, and I am in. I must believe, and I am IN!!

What is in?? Remember the old camp song?

"Every promise in the book is mine... every chapter every verse every line... ALL the blessings of His love divine... Every promise in the book is mine! Mine! MiNe! MINE!! Jesus is mine!"

Get IN!!

Live in 3...2...1...

NOW!! 
www.ReachingZambiaForChrist.com has a whole new look, and I hope you take just a minute to have a look around! 

We have tried to keep all of the important stuff easy to find, and have added a few fun features and graphics. While I am not a web designer or a graphic artist, we are very pleased with the (nearly!) finished product! I feel like a website is kind of like a living room... you never know what you might want to add! This format is MucH easier to update and will be the place to go to find out the about our ministry, deputation schedule, and vehicle mishaps latest adventure!

Please jump on over and feedback-both complimentary and constructive- is always welcome!